Darling v. Augusta Mental Health Institute

• Decision Date: 22 December 1987
• Citation: 535 A.2d 421
• Parties: Eleanor M. DARLING v. AUGUSTA MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTE et al.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

Page 421

535 A.2d 421

Eleanor M. DARLING v. AUGUSTA MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTE et al.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Argued Nov. 6, 1987.

Decided Dec. 22, 1987.

Francis M. Jackson (orally), Jackson & Pallas, Westbrook, for plaintiff.

Stephen C. Whiting (orally), Hewes, Douglas, Whiting & Quinn, Portland, for Joyce & Kerwin.

James E. Tierney, Atty. Gen., Linda Sibery Crawford (orally), Asst. Atty. Gen., Augusta, for A.M.H.I., et al.

Before McKUSICK, C.J., and NICHOLS, ROBERTS, WATHEN, SCOLNIK and CLIFFORD, JJ.

McKUSICK, Chief Justice.

Plaintiff Eleanor Darling, personal representative of the estate of her son Frank Darling, appeals to this court the dismissal of her claims arising out of the murder by her son of his wife after he was discharged from the Augusta Mental Health Institute (AMHI) and then his suicide while an inmate in the Cumberland County jail. In Superior Court (Cumberland County) plaintiff sued AMHI, the Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, the Superintendent of AMHI, various AMHI employees, and Cumberland County Sheriff Martin Joyce and Deputy Sheriff Douglas Kerwin, on both state tort claims and federal claims under 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983 (1981). The Superior Court, in a succession of dismissal orders and summary judgments, held for defendants on all these claims. We vacate only the order entering summary judgment in favor of Deputy Sheriff Kerwin on the section 1983 claim, but affirm the Superior Court in all other respects.

I.

On October 20, 1981, while incarcerated at Cumberland County jail for assaulting his wife, Frank Darling was taken to Maine Medical Center (MMC) for examination because of his strange behavior at the jail. A physician at MMC certified Darling for involuntary admission at AMHI, and he was transferred there. On the next day, October 21, 1981, AMHI psychiatrist Ulrich Jacobsohn examined Darling and determined that he "show[ed] no evidence of major mental illness" and could not be detained at AMHI on an involuntary basis. Assisting Dr. Jacobsohn in his evaluation of Darling were Robert Lamoreau, a mental health worker; Adrienne Nadeau, also a mental health worker; and Dr. Charles Acker, a psychologist. At his request Darling was then returned to the Cumberland County jail and shortly thereafter was released on bail.

On November 5, 1981, Darling again attacked his wife, this time killing her. In his bifurcated trial for murder, the jury returned a guilty verdict in the first phase but on July 4, 1982, while in Cumberland County jail awaiting trial of his insanity defense, he hanged himself. Before the suicide Sheriff Joyce, concerned about Darling's mental and physical condition, had ordered him placed under a one-on-one continuous observation. Sheriff Joyce assigned Deputy Sheriff Kerwin to perform the observation, but at the time when the suicide occurred Kerwin was busy in the vicinity of Darling's cell assisting other guards in the strip search of another inmate.

Earlier, on November 13, 1981, soon after he killed his wife, Darling had filed with the Attorney General notice pursuant to the Maine Tort Claims Act, 14 M.R.S.A. § 8107 (1980), of a claim against AMHI, Commissioner Concannon, Superintendent Mullaney, and various AMHI employees for allowing Darling to leave that institution. On October 20, 1983, just short of two years following Darling's discharge from AMHI, his mother as his personal representative filed with the Superior Court (Cumberland County) a complaint against those same parties alleging negligence and a 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983 violation of Darling's constitutional rights arising out of his discharge. ¹ The complaint alleged that the named AMHI staff negligently diagnosed and treated Darling and by discharging him failed to ensure that he would not be a threat to himself and others. The complaint also alleged that AMHI, Commissioner Concannon, and Superintendent Mullaney failed to train their staff adequately and to promulgate appropriate procedures for dealing with patients like Darling. Dr. Jacobsohn was not named in the original complaint, but on October 18, 1983, plaintiff had notified him pursuant to 24 M.R.S.A. § 2903 (Supp.1984) of a claim against him. On January 13, 1984, plaintiff then amended her complaint to add Dr. Jacobsohn as a defendant. Later, the Superior Court allowed plaintiff again to amend her complaint, this time to add as defendants Sheriff Joyce and Deputy Sheriff Kerwin (then named only as "Doe").

The Superior Court in June 1984 dismissed all the claims against AMHI, Mullaney, Concannon, and the AMHI employees who had participated in the team assessment of Darling, and granted summary judgment in favor of Dr. Jacobsohn and Dr. Acker. In November 1985 the court granted summary judgment in favor of Sheriff Joyce and Deputy Sheriff Kerwin on the state law claims, and in November 1986 on the federal section 1983 claim. Plaintiff then filed a timely appeal to this court.

II.

State law claims against AMHI

The Superior Court properly dismissed plaintiff's negligence claim against AMHI based upon the broad immunity provided governmental entities under the Maine Tort Claims Act, 14 M.R.S.A. § 8103(1) (1980). The Act defines "governmental entity" to include the State and its political subdivisions, id. § 8102(2), and in turn defines the "State" to include

any office, department, agency, authority, commission, board, institution, hospital or other instrumentality thereof....

Id. § 8102(4) (Supp.1987). ² Since AMHI is a mental hospital created by statute and maintained by the State, 34 M.R.S.A. § 2101 (1978), it enjoys the broad general immunity provided by the Tort Claims Act.

Plaintiff contends, however, that the Tort Claims Act does not prevent her from pursuing her claim against AMHI because the maintenance of a mental hospital constitutes a proprietary activity qualifying for Maine's former common law exception to sovereign immunity. See, e.g., Blier v. Town of Fort Kent, 273 A.2d 732, 733-34 (Me.1971); Anderson v. City of Portland, 130 Me. 214, 216, 154 A. 572, 573 (1931). We reject this contention because the Maine Tort Claims Act has in this state entirely displaced the common law of sovereign immunity, including any exceptions to immunity.

Following our abolition of the common law doctrine of sovereign immunity, Davies v. City of Bath, 364 A.2d 1269, 1273 (Me.1976), the legislature quickly enacted the Tort Claims Act, thereby creating a new statutory immunity for governmental entities, 14 M.R.S.A. § 8103(1), subject to a number of specific, limited exceptions, id. § 8104. The Act makes clear, both in its comprehensive scope and in its explicit wording, that it has supplanted any remnants of Maine's common law of sovereign immunity that may still have existed. The Act provides:

Immunity. Except as otherwise expressly provided by statute, all governmental entities shall be immune from suit on any and all tort claims seeking recovery of damages. When immunity is removed by this chapter, any claim for damages shall be brought in accordance with the terms of this chapter.

Id. § 8103(1) (emphasis added). There can be no doubt that the legislature meant to limit the governmental immunity exceptions to those explicitly set forth by statute. Since the "proprietary activity" exception to sovereign immunity has its source solely in the common law, Blier v. Town of Fort Kent, 273 A.2d at 735-36, that exception has been abrogated by the Tort Claims Act. The Act confines plaintiff to Maine's statutory law for any possible exceptions to the State's general immunity from suit. See Young v. Greater Portland Transit Dist., 535 A.2d 417 (Me.1987).

There is no merit in plaintiff's alternative contention that AMHI's conduct at issue here falls within the Act's exception to governmental immunity for injuries arising out of "the construction, operation, or maintenance of any public building or the appurtenances thereto...." 14 M.R.S.A. § 8104(2). Courts strictly construe any exception to governmental tort claims immunity. Clockedile v. State Dept. of Transp., 437 A.2d 187, 189 (Me.1981). Plaintiff alleges only that AMHI has negligently promulgated procedures for diagnosing and retaining patients and has negligently trained its personnel involved in such diagnoses. Under no reasonable analysis would AMHI's alleged wrongful training and promulgation of rules constitute the operation of a public building. Cf. 34 M.R.S.A. § 1 (1978) (distinguishing mental health department's authority to manage and control "buildings and property" from its authority to care for "patients and inmates"). ³

III.

State law claims against state employees

The Superior Court dismissed plaintiff's state law claims against Commissioner Concannon and Superintendent Mullaney because of the personal immunity provided by the Tort Claims Act to government employees performing discretionary functions within the scope of their employment. 14 M.R.S.A. § 8111(1)(C). The court entered summary judgment in favor of Dr. Jacobsohn on the ground that her claim was barred by the governing two-year statute of limitations. Finally, the court dismissed the claims against the other AMHI employees because Dr. Jacobsohn himself was the clinician entrusted with the authority to determine Darling's status, thus freeing the other participants in this decision from any liability for its consequences. We affirm the Superior Court's judgment in regard to all these employees, but rest our affirmance in each case upon the discretionary function immunity provided by section 8111(1)(C).

A. Commissioner Concannon and Superintendent Mullaney

In October 1981 when this claim arose, Commissioner Concannon was charged by statute with overseeing the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation ⁴ as well as AMHI, a mental hospital operated by the department. 34 M.R.S.A. §§ 1, 2 (1978). ⁵ The department has authority to promulgate rules relating to residents...